This application requests funds to help defray the costs of h olding a Symposium on Stress and Alcohol Abuse. This Symposium will be held at Rutgers University on June 9-11, 1982. It will be the first Symnposium ever to be held on this topic. The need for this Symposium is indicated by: (1) The importance of the topic, not only because of its scientific merit, but also because of its relevance and significance in terms of human alcohol abuse. Stress and excessive alcohol ingestion are prevalent in our society. Yet the possible beneficial effects of low levels of alcohol intake, in stressed individuals, nor the possible potentiating and reinforcing effects of stress on alcohol abuse, have received, as yet, little attention from eitehr the medical and the scientific communities. (2) There has never been a Symposium on this topic before, nor has it been specifically covered in any form by any other national or international meeting. (3) To our knowledge, this particular topic will not be covered in any of the upcoming meetings or Symposia. Thus there is a growing number of scientists working on various aspects of stress and alcohol interaction, and there is a need for them to exchange their views, to come to grips with the existing differences in views, methodologies, etc., in an attempt to come to some understanding and agreement on the controversial issue of the interaction of stress and ethanol. (5) Call attention of the scientist in general to the importance of this research problem, and thus stimulate more research in this area. The Symposium will last three full days. A group of 30 speakers have been selected, and have agreed, to participate in the Symposium. The speakers will cover (a) some general aspects of stress relevant to the topic of the Symposium, (b) cardiovascular and neuroendocrine aspects of the interaction of stress and ethanol, and (c) behavioral aspects of stress and alcohol interaction. The proceedings of the Symposium will be published. The requested funds will provide partial coverage towards the costs of this Symposium. We have already been successful in obtaining some support from private and industry sources.